How To: Register Your Bike, In Case It's Stolen!

Each year, an estimated 4,000 bikes are stolen in San Francisco. In an effort to help put a dent in that number, Safe Bikes asks you to register with them. It takes five minutes and could help you get your ride back.

Why register with Safe Bikes, you ask? When your bike gets stolen, SFPD scours its database for info, but when nothing turns up about your missing wheels, they turn to Safe Bikes, a program developed by the Park Community Police Advisory Board (CPAB).

SFPD's Matt Friedman, of @SFPDBikeTheft, says to "make sure you file a police report and know your serial number," but if you can't file a report (some people don't have time or just don't want to deal with cops) "at the very least take five minutes to register your bicycle." He adds: "Lean how to lock your bike, too."